1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reactive polymer having a novel skeletal structure, which undergoes a reduction in solubility or becomes insoluble due to the action of light, heat or electron beams.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, detailed descriptions of light-sensitive polymers which undergo a reduction in solubility in a solvent or become insoluble in solvents due to the action of light or electron beam are given in the literature (for example, J. Kosar; Light-Sensitive Systems, John Wiley and Sons, New York (1965), Tsunoda; Kankousei Jushi (Photosensitive Resin), Publishing Department of Insatsugakkai (1972), etc.).
These light-sensitive polymers are used for printing plates, photoresists, paints, adhesives, etc.
In the case of forming, particularly, images using a reactive polymer, generally development-processing is required. For such development, organic solvents are commonly used as the developing agent. However, organic solvents can be the cause of environmental pollution or public, hazards due to their well known high inflammability, bad odor, and toxicity. Therefore, an aqueous solvent system, particularly, water alone, would have great advantages as the developing agent from the standpoint of inflammability, toxicity or cost of the processing solution. Thus, the development of a reactive composition which can be processed with an aqueous system has long been sought.
An object of the present invention is to provide a reactive composition which can be development-processed with an aqueous system. This object has been attained using a quaternary salt-type polymer as the reactive polymer.
In general, two processes to obtain the above-described light-sensitive polymer are presently known: one being (a) a process wherein a monomer having a reactive group is first synthesized and then the resulting monomer is polymerized to obtain a reactive polymer and the other being (b) a process wherein a polymer is first synthesized and then a reactive group is introduced into the resulting polymer utilizing a high polymer reaction. The former process (a) can provide a polymer having a comparatively high reactivity, while the latter process (b) has the defect that a high polymer compound having the reactive group in a proportion of 100% is difficult to obtain since this process utilizes the high polymer reaction. On the other hand, however, the latter process (b) has the advantage that it enables the end product to be produced at low cost since the reaction procedure is compparatively simple. In the present invention, a polymer produced according to an absolutely unique process, as well as those produced according to the above-described two processes, are used. It is needless to say that the polymer produced by the unique process of the invention possesses the advantages of the above-described two synthetic processes, i.e., that the reactive group is connected to the polymer in a proportion of 100% and that the polymer can be produced with ease since the reaction conditions are mild and the reaction procedures are simple. Therefore, this unique synthetic process will surely contribute to the field of synthesizing the reactive polymer. That is, the composition containing the reactive polymer is of great significance.
Quaternary salt-type polymers have long been utilized as ion-exchange resins, dye-retaining agents, high molecular weight germicides, conductive coating materials, etc. These are described in detail in general in, for example, M. F. Hoover; "Cationic Quaternary Polyelectrolytes-Literature Review", J. Macromol. Sci., A4, pp.1327 - 1417 (1970). However, no reports on quaternary salt-type polymers having an unsaturated group as used in the present invention are known. V. A. Kabanov, et al have merely reported in J. Polym. Sci., C16, pp.1079 - 1094 (1967) that, when 4-vinylpyridine is reacted with an alkyl halide in various organic media, a high molecular weight quaternary salt-type polymer is produced instead of a quaternary salt-type monomer.